Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1887-01-06
A STRANGE STORY.
A MALTESE CROSS FOUND IN THE
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'NiA"ANsNt ohA AA0S obOob w mllUC dll
essay on dreams. My purpose is to re-
late-well, if you wish we shall call it
story, which has at least the merit of
t tn if it may not possess the interest
OF fiction.
! had fairly entered on my career as
O lawyer, and my health, never the
most robust, of late had been causing
me considerable annoyance. l had
been always disposed to agree with
Shakespeare's apothecary and "throw
physic to the dogs" but in the end
was obliged to apply to physician for
advice. 1t was nervous prostration,
he assured me, brought on by excessive
study, and Imust forthwith close my
books and get away to the country.
You will find the very tonic you re-
quire in the salt sea breeze at some
pleasant watering place." he said to
me- On reaching my lonely room that
evening lunted up a letter received
from an old college chum some days
before. and this is what / read:
"DEAR CRAwFoRD:-I've heard with
considerable concern that your health
has been failing you lately, and that a
too close application t0- YOUR books i
the cause. Surely tnis1 an emmentiy
proper time to fulfil a promise so
often made to spend few days with
me. The inyigorating sea breeze will!
build you up in no time. Come away
then, from that wilderness of brickj
and mortar they call New York, and
learn what happiness can be found in u
healthy country life. | shall not take
nay for an answer so don't compel me
to run up to town and carry you away
bon g''e NAL gre. rS~".----
" Yours, etc, FRED LIVINGSTON"
Within an hour valise was packed
and letter written to the Office stating
my intention of taking short vaca-
ton. The anticipitiono of long wished
for holiday and its consequent excite
ment rendered me nervous and restless,
and when ] retired to bed it was to
remain awake and feverish through
half the night.
Toward morning I grew more COM
posed, and felt that blissful sense of
restfulness which heralds a peaceful
sleep. The transition from the reality
of these wakeful hours into the "fan-
tastic realms OF sleep must have
been instantaneous. A palpable pres
ence was in the room and bending over
me, and a voice was whispering softly,
Leslie Crawford, l am thy guardian
tairyl Thou hast been poor and i'll and
lonely, and | have sorrowed with thee.
But the shadows of the past are clear
ing, and a brighter future will open
for thee tomorrow. Within stones
throw of the friends house thou art
about to visit thou will ind treasure
that will bring thee happiness" My
former knowledge of fairies had been
confined to those of the species that in
abbreviated skirts appear occasionally
in burlesque. But my guardian fairy
seemed widely different being, albeit
endowed with all the attributes of a
sweetly-perfected womanhood. We
never notice the startling incongruities
Of dreams until we wake from them,
and to me there was nothing that was
not serenely proper in this tall and
stately girl, dressed a la mode, bending
over me as ] slept. So vividly was her
corporeal presence impressed upon my
retina while | slept that I drew her
portrait when woke in these words
a. fairy clothed in all the "ripe and
real" charms Of woman, with the
voluptuous form of q Juno, the ethe.
real beauty OF face of a st. Cecilia.
1t was late in the afternoon when
reached the end of my journey by rail
and started on the half-mile walk 10
my friends home. / had been there
some years before, and the road was
not altogether unfamiliar to me. We
were lads then, but now would find
him q married man cultivating the
domestic virtues and bucolic tastes
AS | reached the gate l stopped Ia
brush the dust from my shoes, and as
l did so glittering object hidden in
the grass, attracted my attention
With some curiosity l picked it up, as
l wondered was this the treasure troys
Of which the sibyl Of my dreams had
told me. 1t was Maltese cross O
gold, quantity chased, and with singl
sapphire set in the center. Did be
| lipya in drenmeo Not Than iudaad